Скачать или смотреть Sunset (Slow Reel) – Mount Errigal, Co. Donegal – Tony’s Musical Journeys

The Sunset (c. Cathal McConnell) (Slow Reel)

Mount Errigal, Co. Donegal, Ireland, June 2016

I keep dreaming of coming back to Ireland. Most of the time it’s some fantasy Miltown Malbay which can take the strangest of shapes but invariably involves meeting many musical friends. On rare occasions, though, I also dream of going up the mountains. This being so rare puzzles me since I hiked a few hills from Cork to Donegal, saw views that took my breath away and loved every moment of it. But I think I might just know the key to this mystery.

The mountain world in itself is a form of dreamscape, it’s so different from our everyday city space that my mind wouldn’t process it as a mundane background setting to draw random elements from. One such dreamscape I’ve been lucky to visit is found in Gweedore, Co. Donegal, on the slopes of Mount Errigal. One rainy day in June 2016 we started on the path to the summit of Errigal but, with the mountain half-covered in clouds and fog and rain all around us, we decided to change course and walk down to Lough Altan instead. To say our path was wet might be an understatement but looking back at it, it was magic. Witnessing the rugged and alien post-glacial landscape, the unexpected bright sun that greeted us on the lake’s shore, and the sweet little lamb in the fireplace of the Altan Tower made it well worth the effort!

Before we climbed down to the lake I set down on a rock to take in all the wild beauty of the land – and somehow managed to play a tune on the whistle despite the lashing rain and gusts of wind. With Lough Altan in full view, I thought of this beautiful slow reel recorded by Altan (the band) and composed by the great Cathal McConnell (I did play one or two notes wrong since I was remembering it on the spot, so be sure to listen to Altan and to Cathal himself if you decide to learn this tune too!) To me, tunes like this are portals to the time I was soaking in Irish music in my countryside, listening to the likes of Altan, Bothy Band, Planxty and Silly Wizard among many others. Our Donegal adventures brought the journey of this tune full circle. Time to remember it again, this time properly, and play it at sunset in a land far, far away!

#TinWhistle #IrishTraditionalMusic #Altan #IrishMusic #IrishReel #CoDonegal #ToMuJo